


believer

by kaatiekinss



Series: the sweet hereafter and what lies beyond [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cunnilingus, Episode: s01e13 Chapter Thirteen: The Sweet Hereafter, F/M, First Time Blow Jobs, Fluff, Missionary Position, Romance, Sleepy Cuddles, Smut, Spooning, Varchie!Centric, Woman on Top
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:07:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23178946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaatiekinss/pseuds/kaatiekinss
Summary: After the jubilee, Archie and Veronica finally consummate their relationship.My imagining of Varchie's first time in 1x13, "Chapter Thirteen: The Sweet Hereafter". The title is taken from Believer by Imagine Dragons.
Relationships: Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge, Minor Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones - Relationship
Series: the sweet hereafter and what lies beyond [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1666315
Comments: 10
Kudos: 29





	believer

**Author's Note:**

> _Last things last  
>  By the grace of the fire and the flames  
> You're the face of the future, the blood in my veins, oh-ooh  
> The blood in my veins, oh-ooh  
> But they never did, ever lived, ebbin' and flowin'  
> Inhibited, limited 'til it broke open and rained down  
> It rained down, like..._
> 
> _Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer  
>  Pain! You break me down and build me up, believer, believer  
> Pain! Oh, let the bullets fly, oh, let them rain  
> My life, my love, my drive, it came from...  
> Pain! You made me a, you made me a believer, believer_

Archie and Jughead help the girls into their coats as they leave Pop’s. They get outside and hover awkwardly for a moment before Veronica breaks the tension. 

“Well,” Veronica looks at Archie, “have a lovely night you two,” she shifts her gaze to Betty and the two exchange a knowing smile, “B, text me tomorrow morning.” The four friends exchange hugs and part ways. Jughead and Betty to the south and Archie and Veronica to the north. 

The walk home is magical. It reminds Veronica of a Robert Frost poem. Tonight, the heavens have cracked open and spilled all across the universe; the sky is crystal clear, the stars bright and plentiful against the sea of pitch blackness and the moon hangs suspended in the night sky, a pale luminescent orb. The air is still, disturbed only by the clouds of their breath and the occasional gust of wind blowing that falling snow around them. There’s no sound except for the crunch of the hard-packed snow under their feet and the soft whisper of the wind whistling between the houses and through the naked trees. 

There’s a peacefulness that blankets Riverdale. A lull in the whirlwind of craziness that seems to have enveloped all of their lives. But it feels loaded. Like the town in holding its breath; waiting for the other shoe to drop. It feels like the calm before the storm. 

They climb the front steps of the Pembrooke hand in hand and Veronica leads him through the lobby, giving Smithers a discreet smile as she pulls him up the stairs behind her. Once the door is open and they’re inside, Archie helps her out of her coat before he wanders further into her home. He leans against the arm of the couch and rubs his injured hand absentmindedly, flexing his fingers and his thumb over and over again. 

When he looks up at her and smiles, it’s devastating and disarming in all the right ways. Veronica joins him by stepping between his legs and twining her arms around his neck so her fingers can play with his bright hair. Archie settles his hands firmly on her waist but doesn’t make any gestures to move them. 

This doesn’t surprise her, especially after their heated make-out session on his couch (which quickly progressed to his bed). She got the feeling that Archie was holding back. He’d kept his hands on her waist, occasionally allowing them to slide up to caress her back or slide into her hair or cup the sides of her face, but otherwise kept them pretty stationery and pretty PG 13. Other than the few times she allowed her own hands to slide under his t-shirt and grasp at his sides; there had been no under the clothes touching at all. 

Veronica would be lying to herself if she said it didn’t hurt at the time. The whole encounter had ended with Archie backing off and going to take a shower, leaving her lying in his bed, turned on and frustrated. She doesn’t know for sure, and she won’t ever ask him, but she gets the feeling that there’s a part of Archie that’s ashamed. It makes her so angry that anyone, let alone an educator entrusted with the care of students, could take advantage of someone like that. She doesn’t want to rush him into anything he may not be ready for, but she does want to show him how much she wants him. 

She knows Archie. In some ways, she knows him better than she knows herself. She knows what he likes. What drives him crazy. What makes him tick. Which is why she goes right for the hair at the nape of his neck, letting the short locks curl around her fingers. 

Besides all of the nice feelings he provokes deep inside her, Archie sends butterflies soaring through her stomach and makes her heartbeat against her ribs like a bird trapped in a cage. He makes her palms sweaty from nerves and her cheeks hurt from smiling. He makes her feel things she’d only read about in books or seen on TV. He makes her feel things she'd written off as fairytale and swore to herself she'd never believe in. 

Veronica steps back and takes Archie’s hands in hers, pulling him away from the couch and down the hallway towards her bedroom. 

“What about your mom?” Archie asks, but Veronica isn’t worried. 

“At this hour, after mixing her reds and whites at the Jubilee, she’s no doubt sleeping soundly in the arms of Prince Valium,” she takes his bandaged hand and brings it around her waist, “so come on in, but keep it quiet, okay?” She leans into him, close, like she’s going to kiss him, but smiles and turns away to open her bedroom door, loving the thrill of the tease. 

They move inside, and while Veronica lays her coat over the back of her chair and sets her purse down, he hovers by the doorway. She comes to stand in front of him again, and Archie pulls her in once more. The way he kisses her makes her heart flutter, and Veronica Lodge is not the kind of girl who gets the flutters. Evidently, however, Archie Andrews is exactly the kind of boy who gives them. 

Veronica picks up his injured hand from where it sits on her waist and brings it to her lips so she can kiss his fingers,” You amaze me every single day, Archie Andrews.” 

He looks at her with an unreadable expression, and Veronica trails off and shakes her head in awe. Archie is quiet which bothers her until he gives her a look like she’s hung the moon and stars outside before he leans down and captures her mouth in a searing kiss. She sighs in contentment and presses closer, enjoying the taste of his mouth as he slides his fingers into the hair at the back of her head. 

Archie moves his lips to her neck and Veronica tilts her head to give him more room. He seems to be thoroughly enjoying sucking kisses into the delicate skin there—never hard enough to leave bruises though; the boy is a kissing connoisseur—then laving the spot with his tongue before choosing a new spot and starting over. She closes her eyes and lets her head roll back on her shoulders, allowing a low moan to escape her parted lips without meaning to. 

That gets Archie’s attention, quick, fast, and in a hurry. He pulls away from her neck to look at her face. Veronica lifts her head to ask him why on Earth he stopped and demand he continue, but the question dies on her tongue when she sees the way he’s looking at her. She recognizes that look. She’s seen it once before. It’s the look he gave her right before he put on the breaks and retreated to the cold confines of his shower. 

Veronica doesn’t want him to do that tonight. She has other plans. She waits for him to do something, go back to kissing her, carry her to the bed, but he doesn’t move. He wants to say something, she can tell, and he’s searching her eyes desperately for what she initially thinks is hesitation or regret. It takes her lust-addled brain a moment to process, but when she finally understands, her heart breaks a little. Archie’s waiting for her to give him the go-ahead. He’s giving her the control right now, the control to change her mind if she wants to, something that she realizes angrily had always been taken away from him before. He doesn’t want to make her feel helpless; the way Grundy made him feel. 

Archie finds himself being turned and maneuvered backward towards the middle of the room. He allows himself to be guided until his knees hit the edge of the bed. He swallows audibly. 

The unresolved sexual tension that hangs in the air is like a fog so thick it’s clouding his mind, and Veronica’s silhouette is the only shape he can decipher through the haze. The last time things had been this heavy, he’d freaked out and spent half an hour in the shower, thinking about her hands and her mouth and— 

Archie watches intently as Veronica stands in front of him and faces her vanity mirror to take off her jewelry. He gazes as she removes her earrings and drops them into a little glass bowl. She’s fiddling with her pearls now, running the pads of her fingers over the smooth surface over and over again. 

She steps out of her heels first and then meets his eyes in the mirror. Veronica's so pretty it makes his chest hurt. He doesn’t deserve her. Everything about him screams small-town boy. From his Letterman to his Chuck’s to his Levi’s and calloused hands and even the construction company his father has so devotedly kept alive for him. But Veronica Lodge, she’s meant for bigger, better things. Much bigger than anything Riverdale, or he, Archie Andrews, could ever offer her. She’s entirely too good for him. 

But the fact remained that, while entirely undeserving, he’s still a teenage boy. He's a teenager with a gorgeous girl, his dream girl, in front of him. He may be self-deprecating, but he isn’t an idiot. His desire to be close to her in this moment outweighs his feelings of inadequacy. He approaches her slowly, holding her gaze in the reflection of the mirror. Archie sweeps her hair over her shoulder so he can kiss her ear and neck once more. She sighs and leans her head back against his collarbone and brings her hand up to tangle in his hair again. Archie slides his hands around her hips, holding her in place so he can grind against her. Veronica moans and takes one of his hands and moves it to her breast. He squeezes gently and uses the pad of his thumb to circle her nipple through the fabric of her dress and bra. She can feel how hard he is through four layers of fabric. 

“Archie…” 

Veronica says, and he turns her slowly to face him. Without her heels on, she’s significantly shorter than he is. Well, with her heels on she's significantly shorter than him. Archie pulls her forward by cupping her elbows, and she rises onto her tiptoes to kiss him. His hands come up to cradle her face, and Veronica’s fingers wrap around his wrist and forearm, rubbing gentle circles into the warm skin with her thumbs. At this point, her lipstick, the same lipstick she’d been wearing that fateful night in Cheryl’s closet, is smudged all over their mouths, a clear mark of their passion. Archie wonders if she wore it again tonight on purpose. 

Archie winds his hand through the thick mass so he can run his fingers through it. He loves her hair. The way it smells, the way she wears it. He loves everything about it. She almost always wears it down but, he’s never seen it quite like this: mussed from his hands, the waves all askew around her face. 

Jesus. He’s starting to sound like Jug. Waxing poetic about his girlfriend’s hair is a decidedly Jughead thing to do. 

_His girlfriend_. 

Archie likes that he can call her that. How long has he imagined what it would be like to be with Veronica? Months, if he’s being perfectly honest with himself. Probably since the moment she walked into Pop’s cloaked in mystery and intrigue. The thought causes him to smile like an idiot against her mouth and Veronica pulls away to look at him. 

“What?” She says, smiling up at him. 

“Nothing. I’m just happy to be here. With you.” Archie brushes a stray wisp of hair behind her ear. Veronica beams at him. Her smile is dazzling. 

“Me too.” He pulls her in again and snakes his arm around her back, pulling on the zip just enough to get her attention. Archie clears his throat and quietly asks, “Can I?” 

The kissing is so good, it takes her a minute to realize he’s asking if he can take her dress off. She smiles at the sentiment and the warmth it sends through her—from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Veronica turns around and sweeps her hair off her shoulders and neck. 

Archie swallows at the enticing way her spine curves delicately into her ass before he places a single kiss on the back of her neck. Reminding himself to keep breathing so he doesn’t pass out—which is a very real possibility at this point, considering the majority of his blood has rushed south—he grasps the zipper between his thumb and forefinger and drags it down. The sound is abnormally loud in the still room, and Veronica shivers as her skin prickles with goosebumps; a reaction to the contrast of the cold air and the warm finger that runs down the exact center of her spine. Two sets of hands, one larger with callouses and the other smaller with nails painted burgundy, push the fabric down her shoulders and arms. She gives a little wiggle and the black dress slides over her curves and pools on the fluffy carpet around her feet. 

Although she can’t see his face, she hears Archie’s sharp intake of breath. But the longer she stands there in the lacy blue undergarments with no other reaction from him the shyer she becomes. It’s a new sensation for her. She can’t even remember the last time she felt shy in front of a boy. It makes her think that Archie just might be everything she’s ever wanted but didn’t think she’d ever find. 

The bravado she’d had earlier flickers out of existence like a dying flame, and suddenly she’s left standing in the middle of her dark bedroom in her underwear in front of a boy. This is uncharted territory for them. Besides Archie’s reluctance to go anywhere beyond first base, the timing had always seemed off. Like they were a few counts offbeat and couldn’t seem to fall into the rhythm together. 

Their last encounter of the sexual kind hadn’t ended the way Veronica had desired. After forcing herself to calm down while Archie was in the shower, she’d passed out in his bed, and he’d crashed on Jughead’s air mattress on the floor beside her. 

But tonight, tonight feels right. For the first time in a long time, Riverdale seems to be at peace and she, Veronica Lodge, is utterly content to spend the rest of her days wrapped up in the arms of Archie Andrews. 

Veronica opens her mouth to say something when she’s spun around and kissed again, completely derailing her train of thought. Archie begins walking her backward, toeing off his Chuck’s as he goes. She pushes his Letterman off his shoulder—it hits the floor with a soft sound—and then her hands slide down his chest to the buttons of his shirt and begin slipping them through the neatly stitched holes. Once it’s open, Veronica runs her hands up his chest and pushes the cotton off his gloriously broad shoulders. Archie pulls it off the rest of the way and throws it to the side, another clothing casualty. 

Once he’s free from the shirt, Archie bends his knees and lifts her under her thighs so he can set her on the bed and step between her legs. The duvet is cool where it touches her, a welcome contrast to her heated skin, and she gives a little gasp. He runs his hands up her outer thighs, and when he reaches her hips, he fingers the lace of her panties delicately. 

It takes Archie a minute to realize he’s panting. He’s imagined this precise moment with her so vividly for so long; he wants to take his time—something he’s never been able to do before. He wants to trace every single mole and freckle scattered across her skin like the stars in the sky outside. Preferably with his tongue although his hands and fingers will more than suffice. He wants to lay her out and explore. He wants to admire the dimples in her cheeks and the ones at the base of her spin. He longs to caress the curves of her breasts and the slopes of her thighs. He simply wants to look at her, all flushed and loose-limbed, knowing she looks like that because of him. 

Trying to calm his racing heart long enough to ask if she’s okay is much harder than it sounds in theory, especially when his mouth feels like Death Valley in the middle of a July drought. 

“Are you alright?” He asks quietly. This is a big step for them, and if he messes it up, he’ll never forgive himself. He can’t give Veronica everything she deserves, but he can give her this. 

She nods and pulls him back in to kiss her. The skin of her inner thigh is warm and soft where the pads of his fingers touch. He drags them up, up, up until they reach the elastic band of her panties. Veronica shifts her legs further apart so he can slide his fingers underneath the edge and when Archie meets warm, wet skin, he groans. 

It’s hard to concentrate fully on what he’s doing because Veronica is panting into his ear and writhing against him while her hands slide down his chest—still covered by his t-shirt—to fiddle with the buckle of his belt. He has just enough mental wherewithal left to slide one finger inside of her. Veronica shivers at the long-awaited touch and pulls harder at his belt, successfully getting it open and whipping it through his belt loops. 

“Ronnie—” But Archie’s cut off by a groan as she gets the button and zip of his jeans open and her hand inside his boxer briefs. His skin feels like it’s on fire wherever her hot little hand touches him, and he’s hard, so hard it’s almost painful but then Veronica begins moving her hand up and down. It feels amazing, but a little dry, and Veronica must notice because she makes a show of licking her palm and wrapping it back around his cock. 

Archie responds by pressing another finger inside to join the first. The hand that isn’t wrapped around him goes to his forearm so she can trace the muscles there. Veronica swipes the pad of her thumb across the head of him, and he jerks away from her mouth. 

“Fuck.” 

Veronica gives a breathless giggle and looks at him in faux shock and Archie blushes. 

“What?” 

“I’ve never heard you use that word before.” She says. 

Archie looks at her, really looks at her, at the mischievous glint her dark eyes, the curve of her lips, and her rumpled hair, the moonlight lighting up her skin, the contrast of dark blue lace on olive breasts, and the way her shape is outlined by the pale color of her duvet. 

Veronica studies Archie’s face as he studies hers—the sincerity of his gaze, the furrow of his brow and the milk chocolate of his eyes as they stare right at hers, the chaotic mess of his hair, sticking up in odd directions thanks to her hands, and his lips smudged with her color. 

Something in him changes. He grins devilishly and helps her fully onto the bed, and then he’s over her, balancing his weight on his hands, caging her in with his arms as he kisses his way down the length of her body. 

Veronica feels like her skin’s on fire. Archie’s lips are intoxicating as they kiss her forehead, her lips, then her throat, her collarbone, over her heart, between her breasts, her nipples through the lace of her bra, down her stomach, the top of her panties and her clit through the soaked lace. She’s breathing so hard it feels like she’s suffocating, sucking in great lungfuls of air as she watches Archie with heavy-lidded eyes. Without breaking eye contact, he drags her panties down her legs and shoves them in the back pocket of his jeans. It’s undeniably sexy. Archie knows exactly what he wants to do, and while he’s never done this to a girl before, he prides himself on being a quick and attentive study. He’s thought about this so much, touched himself thinking about the way she’ll taste and the sounds she’ll make, _Jesus Christ_. 

There were a lot of things he was curious about that he and Ms. Grundy never got to. Mostly because they were always sneaking around, and everything was rushed so they didn’t get caught. 

But he doesn’t have to rush right now. He’s in Veronica’s room, on her bed, with the door locked and her spread out in front of him. He must get too caught up in his thoughts and hesitate for longer than he means to, because Veronica’s fingers find him, and she says his name softly. 

“Archie?” 

“Will you show me what you like?” 

It’s quite nerve-wracking to ask her that, but he knows it won’t be good for her if she doesn’t at least guide him through it. And all he wants is to make this good for her. 

Veronica doesn’t say anything, but she does nod and spreads her legs further so Archie can settle between them more comfortably, her expensive silk sheets rumpling underneath him as he moves. 

There’s a fire in his eyes she’s never seen before, and when he wraps his arms around her thighs and drags her closer to him, Veronica’s breath catches. 

“Archie…” 

Her voice is soft, and the hand she has buried in his hair is gentle. He looks up her body and meets her eyes before starting at her knee and kissing up her leg to the inside of her thigh before repeating the action on the other side and then finally putting his mouth where she wants it most. 

Archie’s tongue is sinful the way he presses it to her and licks. Veronica arches off the bed and he uses the bandaged hand around her hip to hold her still, a knee jerk response. 

He’s hesitant at first, taking it slow, barely swiping his tongue along her. Veronica moans, and Archie is certain he’s found his favorite sound in the whole world. Slowly, he parts her with his tongue, and when his nose nudges against her clit, she moans again. 

“Fingers, Archie,” one of her hands reaches for his uninjured one that’s wrapped around her thigh and brings them between her legs, “use your fingers.” 

Her hands fly to his head and tighten in his hair when he pulls his mouth away and runs his fingers up and down her slit, the wetness collecting on his fingertips. 

She gasps when he pushes a finger inside of her, and Archie nearly passes out himself. He’s so hard, grinding against the bed and moaning as she clenches around him. 

“More,” Veronica whimpers out, and Archie follows her instructions. He slides his finger out and pushes two back in. When he crooks them in a come-hither motion and sucks on her clit at the same time, finally just relaxing and going with his gut, Veronica swears. 

“Fuck.” That word, coming out of Veronica Lodge’s berry painted lips almost does him in. 

She barely realizes she said anything until Archie stops and she raises her head to look down at him. He’s grinning cheekily, the smug bastard, and if he wasn’t so damn endearing, she’d be annoyed that he stopped. 

“What?” 

“I’ve never heard you use that word before,” He repeats her earlier words and Veronica doesn’t even have time to be affronted about it because Archie goes right back to what he was doing before, though with more vigor, her very vocal approval having given him quite the confidence boost. He pays special attention to the things that make her breath catch and her pulse quicken; like that heavenly thing he does where he curls his fingers inside of her. She’s so close, she can feel it just beyond her reach. Just a little more. 

Archie must feel it, too, because he draws her clit between his lips and sucks, _hard_ , and Veronica pulls his hair harshly in response. 

“Right there…” She’s keening now, her thighs contracting and coming to wrap around Archie’s head as her legs slide over his shoulders and down his back, her toes curled, her arched feet pointed, and all of her muscles tensed as she comes. 

The world goes dark for a moment as she rides it out, her limbs heavy, her heart pounding, her head spinning. She can feel Archie loosen his grip on her hip and move her legs off his back. He turns them to the side and tucks them next to her, before laying his head on her stomach and blinking up at her slowly. 

Her awareness comes back to her in bits and pieces. The sound of their heavy breathing returns slowly, and then the movement in her arms and legs comes back, and Veronica runs her hands through his hair. Finally, she opens her eyes. Everything is a bit blurry around the edges like it’s been smudged, and Veronica stares up at her ceiling for a moment, blinking slowly, letting the warm, tingly feelings linger for as long as possible. 

“Ronnie?” 

“Hmmm?” 

Archie crawls over her again, grinning down at her and brushing some hair out of her face. 

“Was that okay?” 

Veronica smiles and wraps her arms around his neck, “That was amazing, Archiekins. You’re amazing,” she’s still a little loopy from the orgasm he’s just given her, “are you sure you’ve never done that to a girl before?” 

Archie blushes and drops his head, chuckling nervously, “Only you, Ronnie. I’ve just..thought about it for a while now.” 

That makes her blush. And gets her thinking about Archie laying in his bed, or standing in the shower, thinking about doing that to her while he touches himself. 

As soon as she regains control of her limbs, Veronica rolls him under her so she can straddle his hips. She runs her hands up his chest, pulling his t-shirt up as she goes. Archie sits up with her still in his lap and reaches behind his head to grab the collar of his white t-shirt and pull it off. He flings it from his fingertips to the floor, and Veronica stares more than is considered appropriate in polite society. 

Archie’s body is incredible. She thinks back to the brief glimpse she got in the locker room that day; when he was all wet and wearing only a towel. 

Veronica runs her fingers up his abs and then to his shoulders, pushing him so he’s laying back on the bed again. His jeans are still open from when she was touching him earlier, so she tugs them down and his boxer briefs down his legs, Archie raising his hips to help. 

He’s flushed all the way down his chest, his breathing ragged, his hands tugging his own hair as he reminds himself to keep breathing. Veronica shoves his Levi’s and underwear away and when she looks back at Archie, she notices his expression. _Hungry_ is the only way to describe it. 

Veronica sits primly between his spread legs, her knees tucked under her bottom, and her hands running up and down his thighs, letting her nails scratch lightly across his skin. She holds eye contact the entire time, biting her lip because she knows that drives him crazy. It’s probably a little mean, but he had teased her, too. 

“I think it’s only fair that I return the favor.” 

“Ronnie, I—” 

He doesn’t finish his sentence because Veronica puts her hand back on him. It’s much easier to stroke him now that rough denim is no longer hindering her movements. She makes sure that Archie’s eyes are locked with hers as she bends down, tucks her hair behind her ears, and wraps her mouth around him. 

Archie’s eyes roll to the back of his head as he sinks into the pillows groans. This has never happened to him before, and it’s quite possibly the greatest moment of his young life. Never in his sixteen years of life has he ever felt anything this _good_. It’s everything he’s ever fantasized it would be and more. Veronica’s mouth feels incredible; hot and wet, and as Archie looks down the length of his body at her, he immediately regrets it. 

She’s looking up at him with those large doe eyes, framed by thick lashes, her mascara smudged from sweat as she bobs her mouth over his cock. Archie is doing everything he possibly can to distract himself from the fact that she’s now wrapped a hand around the base and strokes what she can’t fit in her mouth as she bobs. His hand hovers over her head, occasionally brushing her hair or her face but never actually touching. 

“You can put your hands in my hair,” Veronica pulls off of him long enough to say before she swallows him down again, this time all the way so that her nose touches the soft hair of his lower stomach. Archie keens and lets out a loud gasp and threads his fingers through her dark hair. His hips thrust up softly of their own accord, and he can do nothing to stop them. It’s like his mind and his body have separated in some way and he can no longer control his being. 

“Ronnie, I’m gonna come.” He expects her to pull off, but she doesn’t. If anything, she goes harder. Archie starts reciting baseball statistics in his head, but it doesn’t work. His thighs and abs tense as he lets go, his hands tightening in Veronica’s hair out of reflex. 

Archie lies there completely and utterly stunned as Veronica pulls off of him and crawls up to snuggle into the crook of his arm. He’s still shivering as she presses wet kisses all over his shoulder and neck and waits for him to catch his breath. 

They lay there together in peaceful silence until their breathing returns to normal and the haze has cleared from their minds. Once his breathing has calmed, Veronica straddles Archie’s hips again, this time letting the length of him slide through her folds as she grinds back and forth. She reaches back and takes her bra off, tossing it to the floor and fluffing her hair. 

“Okay?” 

“Better than okay.” 

Archie moves his hands up to touch her breasts and Veronica sighs, letting her head fall back. She keeps grinding, but his skin feels hypersensitive wherever they’re joined, and he has to grab her hips and stop her so he can fumble around her bed for his jeans. Veronica, who only grows more impatient the longer Archie’s not inside of her, finds them for him, digging his wallet out of the back pocket and plucking out the condom. 

“Awfully presumptuous, aren’t we?” She holds up the little foil square, brow quirked. 

“No, Ronnie,” he says fretfully, thinking he’s offended her in some way, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume anything. I put it in there after Jughead’s party. You know just in case—” 

Veronica shushes him with a quick kiss, “I’m only teasing, Archiekins,” she pets his hair back, “your preparedness is sexy.” She cups his face gently, rubbing her thumbs into his still flushed skin. The way he looks at her makes her blush. She’s never had a boy look at her the way Archie does. 

She shuffles down his legs again, but this time so she can roll the condom on. Archie holds his breath the entire time, watching her as she puts it on with the same grace one might have when playing the piano. He moves back so that his back is propped up against her fluffy pillows and he’s sitting up. 

“Ronnie, you sure?” 

He has to ask. He has to be sure that she wants this just as much as he does. 

She nods, and says under her breath, _"We've had this day with each other from the very beginning, Archiekins."_

Her hair falls forward around her face as she lowers her head. Archie notices that her hand is trembling, so he holds it tight in his, fingers interlocked as she positions him below her and sinks down in one smooth glide. 

“Oh my God.” 

Being inside Veronica is like an out-of-body, otherworldly experience. Maybe it’s because it’s been so long, but Archie’s pretty sure it’s because it’s _her_. Once he can think again, he runs his thumb over her clit, delighting in the way she tenses and sucks in a gasping breath as her thighs tighten around his hips. 

“Okay?” He asks, and she nods. 

“Do that again.” Archie smirks and does as he’s told, rubbing his thumb around her clit and groaning as she swears and tightens around him. 

Veronica begins rising and falling slowly, using her thighs to lift herself up. She has her hands braced on his broad shoulders for balance and support, and her fingers are tensed so that her nails make light scratches across his freckled skin every time she moves. 

Looking to take some control, Archie plants his feet on the bed and tenses his own thighs for more leverage. His knees bend closer to her so that they run parallel to her ass and thighs, and he wraps the hand that isn’t on her clit around her waist and deepens the angle at which he moves inside of her. This forces his cock to rub against that spot deep inside of her that he’d pressed on earlier with his fingers. 

Veronica gasps and Archie stops, “Alright?” He asks, rubbing circles into her skin with his thumb. 

“Yeah. That was a good sound, Archiekins.” Veronica’s smile is lazy, but the only thing Archie can focus on is the heat that courses through him at the use of that nickname. It spurs him into movement again, slow, smooth strokes that make his insides ignite and smolder. 

Suddenly, he’s rolling over and taking her with him. Needing to be close to him, Veronica wraps her legs around his hips and crosses her ankles just above his ass. The sudden movement and change of angle allows Archie to slide deeper. 

There’s a moment when they both stop and are still, just listening to the other breathe before Archie lowers his head and kisses the tip of her nose. Veronica smiles up at him, the adoration in that simple gesture sending her own insides into a fit of butterflies. 

Archie shifts forward on his knees and maneuvers one of her legs so that it’s pressed close to her chest. Veronica sighs in contentment and lets her eyes fall closed. His bandaged hand holds it in place by the bend of her knee while the other returns to her clit. 

His thrust start again; slow at first but gradually picking up speed. Veronica forces her eyes open so she can look at him. Archie’s eyes are hooded, his pupils blown, and his mouth is hanging open as his breathing picks up. She wouldn’t have blamed him if the thrust of his hips lost their rhythm, but Archie is precise and focused. 

Sweat is beginning to drip off the tip of his nose, off the edge of his hair and running down the middle of his back. Veronica knows this because she can feel it below where her nails have dug themselves into his skin. The thumb on her clit speeds up and her mouth opens in a silent scream, her lips forming the letters of his name and her back arching off the bed and forcing their chests together. 

Her hands move from his back to grab the sheets, the headboard anything she can find, but in the end, it’s Archie who anchors her to the Earth as she comes, twining one of his larger hands with her small ones and pressing them into the pillow above her head. She raises her head to capture his mouth in a kiss, sealing their lips together as he comes, too. 

\--- 

Veronica presses the warm washcloth to her tender skin as she cleans herself up. Archie is asleep, only staying awake long enough to roll off her, throw the condom away, and pull his boxers back on before drifting off. She can’t blame him. She isn’t far behind. 

She pads back into her bedroom and climbs into bed next to him. It’s so quiet now, such a stark contrast to just a few moments ago. As she gazes down at his sleeping face, Veronica wonders if anyone else sees what she does when she looks at Archie Andrews. The varsity jock and the tortured musician. The naïve little boy and the jaded young man whose defining characteristics are his strength and his vulnerability. Veronica snuggles into his side, and one of Archie’s arms comes around her and pulls her back towards his chest. She’s never been spooned before. 

Veronica hopes always to be privy to this Archie. Who, for tonight, was just a boy, and she just a girl and the two of them just teenagers in love.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published via my old account, TheVoicelessRomantic, on 3-3-2019, this is the first oneshot in my Varchie series, The Sweet Hereafter and What Lies Beyond. You can find me on tumblr @monicasposh.


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